


What's a Queen to Do?

by OhNoMyBreadsticks



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dancing, F/M, Flirting, Loving Marriage, Period-Typical Sexism, Temptation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoMyBreadsticks/pseuds/OhNoMyBreadsticks
Summary: Calanthe's never been a big fan of banquets, for a myriad of reasons. And Eist really isn't helping her be any more favorable towards them.Or is he?
Relationships: Calanthe Fiona Riannon/Eist Tuirseach
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31
Collections: Melting Pot Prompts





	What's a Queen to Do?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago and never ported it over to AO3 from my tumblr. Which is a damn shame, because writing thirsty Calanthe in canonverse turned out to be VERY fun! This is also the only canonverse Calanthe/Eist piece I've ever written lmao
> 
> Originally this was based on the prompt "You don't know what you're doing to me, do you?"
> 
> I tagged this as the Witcher Netflix show just because I based these two on their portrayal in the Netflix show specifically. Those two actors have taken up residence in my head rent free!!

Banquets, Calanthe thought, were possibly her most hated social function. Worse than dry meetings of state or knightings, where she at least had something to do. And far worse than day-long strategy meetings, where she could actually speak and be heard by her advisers. Banquets outstripped them all in terms of sheer boredom and annoyance, because banquets claimed to be  _ fun _ . The audacity, she had never had fun at a banquet, ever. There were simpering nobles on every side, food she could barely enjoy thanks to the squeeze of her corset, and grating music extolling the virtue of the penis. Sure, she enjoyed one herself once in a while, but people who had penises generally didn’t need any more encouragement in her experience.

Calanthe had hoped that after her second marriage she might be able to enjoy banquets a little bit more. After all, people would have a  _ king _ to pester instead of her. Maybe she could even get up from her seat and walk around a bit, giving her restless legs something to do. And yet, somehow, no one had bought into the idea that Eist was actually more important than she was. Everyone who actually wanted something was still circling around her throne instead of his, and she couldn’t exactly say she was all that angry about it. In any other circumstance, the fact that Eist so clearly signalled his trust and belief in his wife as the true ruler would have made her heart beat a pleasantly quick staccato in her chest. 

Now though, watching him mingling with the nobles and actually enjoying himself while she was stuck in her big fancy chair at the head table, all Calanthe could feel was simmering jealousy. She had gone to all the trouble of acquiring a husband and he wasn’t even useful. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. If nothing else, Eist provided something quite pleasant to look at. The banquet hall was warm with the merriment of at least a hundred guests, not to mention the amount of torches needed to light the room, and everyone was sweating. That was just expected, given the amount of layers they were all expected to wear in order to show off their finery.

Eist was no exception, the light sheen of sweat causing his dark unruly curls to stick to his forehead and the back of his neck. Occasionally he’d reach up and run his hand through his hair in an attempt to make it not stick down, which only served to ruffle it up in new and frustratingly adorable ways. Calanthe was terribly fond of how easy it was to ruffle Eist’s hair, and even more fond of the way it always stuck up in odd directions when he woke up and rolled over to face her in their bed. She’d never admit it, but his appearance when his eyes were still heavy with sleep but his mouth was already curling into a smile at the sight of her face was terribly pleasant. 

At some point in the evening Eist had even decided to make some adjustments to his doublet in an attempt to combat the heat. He had rolled up his sleeves, no doubt irreversibly wrinkling the satin, and then popped open the top three or four buttons, revealing the column of his throat and a hint of his chest hair. It was terribly unfitting for a king, but no one seemed to care. Eist was a  _ man _ , and a jarl, so no one dared comment on the fact that his appearance was less than pristine. If anything, it made him seem more approachable, more ‘down to earth’. Calanthe grit her teeth as the scratchy lace lining the cuffs of her sleeves brushed against the skin of her wrists. Queen she might be, but she was still held up to the same damning standards of every other woman in this room.

The worst part of it all though, was that Calanthe couldn’t stop herself from gawking at Eist. Everything about his appearance should have filled her with annoyance and rage, she should have called him over and insisted that he sit properly at the banquet table and suffer like she was. But if he was seated at her side she wouldn’t be able to watch the way his shoulders shook as he laughed - the way his smile lit up his whole face - the brush of his fingers along his own forearms as he pushed his one sleeve further up, a touch Calanthe was intimately familiar with. The amount of skin on display at a formal banquet of all places was frankly obscene, and she was torn between wanting to spirit him away from prying eyes and gloating in the knowledge that everyone in this room could see just how enticing her husband was. Hers, not anyone else’s, for Eist was more loyal than any hound trained from birth to serve a master.

What had first been a pleasant distraction from the monotony of the banquet was quickly becoming unbearable, being forced to watch Eist from a distance as he flitted about being the most enticing morsel in the room. Calanthe could bear it no longer. She stood suddenly, the grating of her throne against the stone of the floor audible enough to draw a gasp from the nobles around her. She dismissed them with a wave of her hand, stalking down from the dias of the main banquet table into the thick of the crowd. The minstrels were playing something that was at least not offensive on the ears, and Eist turned to greet her with a warm smile that was entirely guileless. 

“Dance with me, husband of mine” Calanthe requested, holding out her hand without any further preamble. Eist, used to her disdain for smalltalk, simply took it and gave it a squeeze as he allowed himself to be led to the dance floor. The rest of the nobles cleared out without even being asked, Calanthe’s mere presence enough to command the entire room with no effort. However, she had no time to gloat, focused on the warm press of Eist’s hand on her lower back and the way his eyes shone with that endless well of devotion she feared she might one day drown in. They moved together well, as they always did, the lioness and her sea dog, both so assured in their own bodies and in each other’s.

“You don't know what you're doing to me, do you?" Calanthe murmured in his ear, the heat in her voice unmistakable as her hand curled protectively around the back of his neck. And Eist, the only man who had so far been able to manage this particular feat, managed it once again as he took her completely by surprise. 

“Perhaps I know exactly what I’m doing to you, my queen” he purred in response, and the wicked curve of his mouth made it impossible for Calanthe to resist the urge to lean in and kiss him, teeth nipping lightly at his lip as they parted. They didn’t need to speak to know that this banquet would be ending far sooner than planned. After all, they had much more pleasurable matters to attend to. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Any and all comments are loved and cherished <3
> 
> I’m available on [tumblr](https://ohnomybreadsticks.tumblr.com/) if you ever feel like chatting or reading some of my lil drabbles, I’d love to see you there <3


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